Motorsport | MotoGP

Vinales looks the 'real deal'

Movistar Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales looks like he is going to be the man to beat going into the 2017 MotoGP season having dominated the official pre-season testing.

The 22-year-old, who will race at Losail in Qatar for the season opener on March 26, has been the quickest in all of the four official tests at Valencia, Sepang, Phillip Island and most recently in Qatar.

The Spaniard joined the Yamaha team for the 2017 and 2018 seasons after Jorge Lorenzo announced his move to the Ducati team.

In an interview with Autosport, Vinales is hoping to be one of the top finishers in the opening championship round in Qatar.

"Our goal is trying to win because after the test we are seeing that we have an incredible pace and we want to try to continue on that level," said Vinales.

"We must work for the win, but we don't think must-win - it's just the first race, we have to get experience.

"I didn't put that pressure not even on me and not even on the team. We've been working really good - I know with one lap I can be really fast, and I was feeling really strong at the end [of a race simulation].

"I could go a little bit faster even - maybe it was too risky, but we ended the test in a good way."